Creamy Chicken, Leek and Potato Pie

Every time I go to my child’s school canteen I reminisce. Choc milk, cheese toasties, and my all time favourite, sausage roll and sauce. I think aside from seeing my friends, canteen lunches were (surprise, surprise) my favourite part of school. There was something about handing over coin to get my hands on a flaky sausage roll and then smothering it in tomato sauce. I smothered EVERYTHING in tomato sauce as a kid, much to my Mum’s disdain. She’d make a fabulous Finnish casserole and out comes the sauce bottle. Macaroni bake – covered in sauce. Cabbage bake – covered in sauce. Scrambled eggs – covered in sauce. Seriously, everything.

One thing I wasn’t overly keen on as a kid was the good old meat pie. I think there was too much meat and not enough pastry, the meat to pastry ratio was all wrong for this pastry-loving kid. Once I’d get past that first bite, there just seemed to be way too much filling and I lost interest fast. As an adult, I have been weary of the store-bought pie as I just can’t get past the idea that I really don’t know what is in that filling; is it meat, is it off-cuts, is it gristle? Who knows. Homemade pie however, yes please.

I have made this pie a few times and each time I added Roza’s Gourmet Sauces’ Sweet Mustard with Apricots and Macadamia Nuts. If you haven’t tried this mustard, I suggest you get your food-loving self down to your local gourmet store and get your hands on some. If they don’t stock it, tell them to. Or you can order it online from Roza’s Gourmet Sauces’ site. It is simply delicious, no two ways about it. I am crazy about mustard, but this one is perfection with the addition of macadamia nuts that give it a nutty crunch combined with a sweet flavour all rolled up in a tangy mustard taste. Genius really.

Bring stock to boil in a saucepan, add chicken and return to the boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes until chicken is cooked. Remove from heat, remove chicken from pan and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

Increase heat and add flour, remainder of the stock, cream and mustard; stir until mixture thickens. Add chicken and combine well, season with sea salt and pepper. Take off heat and allow to cool slightly.

Line base of pie dish with sheet of shortcrust pastry. Trim edges and prick base with a fork. Cover with sheet of parchment paper and rice or baking weights, blind bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove rice and paper, bake for a further 8 minutes or until pastry is golden.

Spoon chicken mixture into pie dish. Place puff pastry on top of mixture, trim and press edges with fork. Brush pastry with egg. Make two cuts in the top of pastry to release steam, and bake in preheated oven at 200C for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Did you love the school canteen as a kid? What was your favourite food purchase?

Disclosure: Roza’s Gourmet Sauces gifted me with a package of sauces to sample.

Ana -Ooooohhhh…. That looks so warming delicious!!!! :-) I just discovered your blog through the impressive and absolutely stunning “no bake white chocolate cheesecake” post…. and I fell in love with it!!!! The design, ellegance and minimalism of your style and your pictures is brilliant….! and your recipes are all super appealing and totally mouthwatering!!! Congratulations for your work! Hi from Spain!! ;) AnaReplyCancel

Peggy Saas -Thank you Ana, so lovely to read your kind comment. I hope you get to try out a recipe sometime, let me know if you do.

Peggy Saas -Yes it reheats well Vanessa. I am a fan of leftovers for lunch so often make extra when cooking dinner so we have our lunches for the next day. The pastry is of course best straight out the oven, but it reheats nicely too.ReplyCancel

Barbara England-I have a date with my brother and sister at the Abbey in Jamberoo, NSW. I am the cook and need to create a special menu for a brunchish/lunchish feast for 7+ after Mass. My brother and I are both coeliac and finding recipes to suit us all is a challenge. Fresh prawns (by popular demand) are the main feature of the repast and perhaps a salad, along with ginger chicken meat balls with sweet chili sauce. I REALLY want to put bread rolls on the menu, but edible GF bread rolls are non-existent unless you have a solution. Short of that I could plagiarize your gorgeous photos and hand them out so we can drool over them! Dessert will be a breeze – I have had GF lemon meringue pie sorted for quite a while and variations on that theme. I do hope you can help :)ReplyCancel